My World, My Safe Haven
by Peyt fan 4ever
Summary: "I'll see you tomorrow, Lizzie." She paused and stared, she hadn't heard anyone call her that since her father left when she was 7. He smirked as he turned to look at her one last time as he walked away. All she could think of is she had never heard her name sound more amazing then when he said it in that way.
1. Coffee

**Maybe I am the only one who loves the Lizzie/Tom relationship, but I don't care. I can't get over how cute they were in the first episode and all of the cute moments they have in the other episodes as well. I know that Tom is more than likely going to end up being this big bad guy, and I am highly disappointe by that because I really love their relationship. I am still holding out hoping the writers will find a way to make sense of it all with out turning him into a Blacklister. I just truly believe that Elizabeth loves Tom, and he loves her. They have great chemistry.**

**Plus the whole Lizzie/Red relationship kind of creeps me out because I strongly believe he is her father know matter what he tells her.**

**But any who, this is my first Blacklist story. The whole waiting 6 weeks for a new episode is driving me crazy so this is my way of letting that out. Hope you all enjoy!**

**Disclaimer:** _I unfortunately do not own any part of the show or characters. All credit goes to the amazing writers and actors that make this show what it is. I'm just the one who writes stories and makes up scenarios in my head that are not true and probably will not happen._

Elizabeth Keen had been through many things since she joined the Bureau, but nothing had prepared her for one of the worlds most wanted criminals choosing her, of all people, to become his side kick.

She really didn't know what else to call herself for him. She had been very clear to him that they were not partners, which he choose to call them often, and she shot it down every time. But the more she pondered it the more she realized they really were kind of becoming partners.

That thought sent shivers down her spine.

Raymond Red Reddington had a way of doing that to people though. Getting under their skin, making them uncomfortable, pissing them off. Yeah, pissing people off was one of his specialties she had first hand experience to testify to that.

Some how he knew everything about her. Every detail to her life. Past, present, and hell she wouldn't be surprised if he knew her future. After all he was very through. He knew things about her that she didn't know, he knew her past. The past that she has tried so hard to uncover and forget all at once. He knew it all. And he hung that over her head as much as he could.

She has grown to live with it. To play his twisted games. At some point she figure maybe he would tell her why, why he was there, why he choose her, why he was so fascinated by her, why he knew her life, why he insisted on calling her Lizzie. And why he kept leading her to believe there was this big secret about her husband.

Her husband. Her Tom. Thomas Vincent Keen. The teacher, the loving husband. Her safe haven. Not the monster that Red was trying to play him out to be.

She met Tom a year after she graduate high school. At first she was very timid of getting into a relationship when she knew the line of work she was going into. She had always thought that she would wait until she was done with school and settling into working in the FBI before she married, so that when she started dating her significant other would understand her life and craziness first hand and not have to deal with a transition into the crazy life.

That all changed when he walked into her life. It was a cold day in New York and she was in one of her favorite little coffee shops when she ran into him. She grabbed her coffee from the barista and turned around running straight into him and dropping her coffee to the ground. It splattered everywhere and ended up slightly burning Tom's leg. They both immediately bend down and began to pick up the mess the whole Liz was apologizing profusely. She was wiping at the floor intensely when he grabbed her hands to stop her and calm her down.

"You know you really like to talk."

She stared at him dumb struck. She finally managed to close her gaping mouth from his comment and a crimson red filled her cheeks. "I'm sorry." She smiled.

The barista brought them a towel. Tom gripped it and thanked her, then began to clean up the remaining coffee. He stood up and extended his hand to help her off her knees. She thanked him and looked away embarrassed.

"Tom Keen." He said in a cheerful tone as he extended his hand out to her.

"Elizabeth Scott." She shook his hand and smiled at him. She got caught up in looking into his eyes. They were beautiful, kind of green, maybe hazel? The sun was shining in and illuminating is features. Tan skin, light stubble, messy brown hair, amazing bone structure.

She cleared her throat feeling another blush rising on her cheeks, hoping he hadn't notice her staring. But she had nothing to worry about, he had been staring back just as much. Her blue eyes captivated him. Her soft delicate features were drawing him in more than he cared to admit. She was beautiful. The sun shining into the coffee shop lit up her face and the soft curls outlining her face shined a gorgeous brown.

She was captivating to say the least.

He smirked when he saw her turn her head and blush, obviously he was having the same affects on her. He finally found the words to speak.

"Uh, let me get you another coffee. It's the least I could do for running into you." He said slyly, but nervously.

She scoffed, "I should be buying you a coffee for spilling coffee all over you."

"How about I buy you a coffee and you grant me the pleasure of your company before I have to make my way back to class?" He tried his hardest not to smirk, but it sneaked out at the end of his sentence.

She thought it over, but there really was no question about it. "I'd like that."

He paid for her coffee and got one of his own before buying them both a muffin and led them to a small booth in the back of the shop.

They set there for an hour talking about nothing and everything. Lizzie laughed harder and smiled more than she ever remembered doing in a long time. And Tom was proud of himself when she told him so. They both looked at the time and both realized they were about to be late for their next classes.

The walk to her car was silent.

"This is me." She said as they approached her small SUV. He smiled shyly at her. Like ripping off a band aid he thought.

"So I hope I'm not over stepping my boundaries here... But, I just had one of the best afternoons in well a long time. Would you like to uh, maybe, go out with me sometime?"

She smirked, how smooth she thought. The confident man that asked her to sit and have coffee with him was gone, and replaced by a shy boy. And she kind of loved that if she had to admit it.

"I'd love too." She replied sincerely. They exchanged numbers and he gave her a hug after they had decided that tomorrow night worked for them both.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Lizzie." She paused and stared, she hadn't heard anyone call her that since her father left when she was 7.

He smirked as he turned to look at her one last time as he walked away. All she could think of is she had never heard her name sound more amazing then when he said it in that way.

**Let me know what you think! Review review review! :)**


	2. Holding On

**So I don't think I explained this story well. This is mostly going to explore Liz's childhood, her relationship with Tom, and how she came to be Agent Keen, FBI profiler turned Raymond Reddington's side kick. It's going to mostly have flashbacks while still keeping it in present time of how the story line goes. Will also have more of Liz's feelings on how things progress with the Blacklist, Tom, Reddington, and Ressler. Takes place after the pilot, other than that you will have to read to find out. I know some may not like the idea of Tom and Liz, but that's how this story is starting, it doesn't mean it will stay that way or that it will all be fluff. I'm open to suggestions so please give them to keep me motivated! I hope you enjoy. **

**Disclaimer:** _I still do not own any part of the Blacklist. Jon Bokenkamp how do you do it? Purely awesome._

Elizabeth watched as Reddington walked leisurely around the war room explaining the newest Blacklister to them. She was trying her hardest to pay attention, but her mind continued to drift to the past 2 weeks events.

Reddington had turned himself in and sought her out as his telephone to the FBI. She was his translator of sorts, almost all communication went through her, and it was a much harder job then what she believed she got credit for. Dealing with Raymond Reddington's quick wit, and taunts about her life was much harder than she had anticipated it would be when he had first turned himself in. He took every chance he got to point it out to her that he knew her life. For the most part she just ignored him, but it was proving to be difficult to keep her strong stoic face on when it came to him.

In the past two weeks they had caught 3 Blacklisters with Reddington basically running the show and Elizabeth working the sidelines and being the mediator. Her mind kept going back to the first day with Reddington, when they had caught Zamani, when she first got thrown into this mess. When her husband was stabbed, when she found the box, the blood, her Tom's lifeless body in her arms, all the machines he was hooked up to in the hospital, the machines he was still hooked up too, still fighting for his life...

She was knocked out of her little day dream about her mess of a life and Reddington when the devil himself stopped his walking around the room and stood right in front of her.

"Is that alright with you Agent Keen?" He was asking her a question, she knew she should have been paying attention. She looked around the room trying to get a hint of what might have been being said, but the only faces staring back at her were the expectant one's of Harold Cooper and Agent Resseler. Dammit she thought. If she asked him what he was talking about she would look ridiculous and of course get disapproving looks from Cooper from her apparent lack of interest in the case.

"Yeah, um, I guess that is fine." It came out as more of a question than a statement and she saw a grin rise to Reddington's features.

"Great, this will be so much fun Lizzie." He clapped and began to crap his coat and hat from Dembe who was lurking in the corner. "I'll have Dembe pick you up around 7." And with that he was out the door.

What had she gotten herself into...

Elizabeth sat in the chair she had occupied almost ever second she was free from the Post Office and hunting for criminals with the FBI's most wanted.

Most days she just sat there, staring at Tom, other days she talked about her day, about their past together, and the future she so hoped they could still get to have. She talked about the adoption and the video she had found in Tom's pants a couple nights after the incident.

And a lot of the time she cried. She begged Tom to wake up, to squeeze her hand, tell her everything would be OK. She pleaded with him, and she looked up and pleaded with God to help her, to save Tom, to let everything be OK in her life for once.

It was a rare moment of weakness for her. One that she would never let anyone else know about. She had done an outstanding job hiding how broken she truly was over Tom's condition to everyone else at the Post Office. Red asked how she was, how Tom was every once in a while, but she always side stepped the question. Copper asked once a day, but that was only because even though Zamani was gone, he still needed Liz to get a statement from him. Ressler looked at her every once in awhile. Mostly on a harder case, he hovered. She hated it, but a small part of her appreciated his caring attitude that he very rarely let shine through.

For the most part Tom's wounds from the night had healed, but the medically induced coma they had put him in had yet to fade. The doctors just told her to be patient. His brain was still function and he had no signs of organ failure, he just wasn't ready to wake up yet. It did nothing to calm her nerves. She continued to worry about him.

He went in for surgery three times after the night of the attack. The first emergency surgery did not go well and he was brought in the next day for another surgery on his wound to the abdomen. The wound punctured his kidney and broke a rib. The next surgery was on his leg. The emergency surgery went well and for the first two days post surgery healing looked good. Then his wound became infected and their was talk of amputation, Liz did everything she could to convince the doctors not to, and they took every course of action to save his leg, and eventually the infection went away and he began to heal properly. It was a weight lifted off Liz's shoulders, but the fact that he wouldn't wake was killing her.

She blamed herself the past two weeks. She hoped Tom would forgive her for inviting this craziness into their usually simple lives. She knew in her heart he would, but without the words leaving his mouth, she was starting to wonder.

She usually spent most nights with her husband in a cot the nurses had brought up for her and named her cot. She would sleep holding his hand hoping that she would be awaken by him squeezing it, but that had yet to happen. She would wake around 4 in the morning and go home to get ready for work. It made for long days, but she was dealing. She wanted to be their when her husband opened his eyes, and she would do everything in her power to be there with him.

She had to bite back tears that she wouldn't be with him tonight. It was nearing 4pm and soon she would need to leave to pack up for her night of undercover work with Reddington. Liz wasn't really sure if she was crying more for the fact of her life that was in shambles, the fact that she wouldn't be with her husband for the night, or just out of pure frustration with Reddington.

After he had left Ressler and Cooper had given her the file of her undercover life, she listened to what they said and read through her file, she stopped and stared at them after reading the first paragraph.

She would be posing as Reddington's daughter. Lillian Marie Reddington.

The thought sent shivers down her spine. They would be posing in a restaurant to where one of Reddingtons clients was suppose to be showing up too. To say she was not excited would be an understatement.

She knew Reddington had somehow worked this up. To trap her with him for a few hours at least.

She also knew that she would just have to play along. Play the part of the dutiful daughter, out to eat with her father, the criminal. How lovely.

She looked at her watch one last time. 5pm.

She stood and placed a loving kiss to Tom's temple. "I love you. I'll be back tomorrow, i promise. Don't try and tricky business on me mister." She whispered it so softly, but she knew he had to of heard every word. He had too. She smiled and walked to the door. Turning one last time to look at her husband. She turned on her heals and walked to her car.

Elizabeth sat there for a moment and took a few deep breaths before turning the key and driving home to pack her bags and prepare herself for a night undercover with the devil.

She just hoped this would go down without any major set backs. She wanted spend as little amount of time alone with Raymond Reddington as possible, and posing as his daughter was not something she was overly joyed about.

She packed her bags and as 7pm rolled around she heard a honk outside.

Here goes nothing she thought as she walked outside, bag in tow. She locked her front door and turned to see Dembe walking up to grab her bag and Reddington standing outside the black car with his signature suit and glasses. Why he needed glasses at 7pm she had no idea, but didn't question it.

She walked straight past him and ducked into the car without so much as a second glance into his direction. He laughed at her actions obviously amused.

"Oh this shall be fun." Reddingtons words echoed her earlier thoughts.

**Well there is chapter 2. It is mostly a filler, but will lead into much more. **

**Reviews motivate me to write. Let me know if anyone is interested in this story. Please and Thank youuu! :)**


	3. All These Questions Left Unanswered

**Disclaimer:** _I still do not own a thing. Although if I did I would never make a break between episodes. This whole 6 weeks thing is killing me. Gahh. _

**I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has viewed, followed, favorited. But the reviews are really lacking, so I'm beginning to wonder just how much interest is in this story. So please drop me a little review just to let me know how I am doing, or what all you like, dislike, or what to see go on in this story. I'm up for all suggestions. **

**Hope you enjoy, flashbacks are in italic. Sorry this is kind of a filler chapter, the next on will be full of action! **

Her thoughts from earlier that day in the war room echoed in her head. What had she gotten herself into, she thought once more as Reddingtons private jet began to make the landing in London.

She ignored Reddington for most of the trip and pretended to read her undercover identity over. She had already read it 6 times. It wasn't a very long profile to began with so she knew Reddington was well aware that she not only was indeed ignoring him, but also doing an awful job at making it seem like she was actually interested in the papers in front of her.

This was a work relationship she kept telling herself. She needed to just put her personal thoughts about him aside and be a professional. That was much easier said than done though, when he kept making things personal. She had tried hard every time he made personal comments about her life to side step them, but he didn't stop. She knew he had obviously gotten the hint that she did not care to speak with him about anything not related to the FBI and Blacklist, he just chose not to care. She didn't know why she would expect anything different from Raymond Reddington.

So she choose to ignore him now. Only answer or talk to him unless it had to do with the case they were working on.

The entire plane ride Red had tried talking to her. He would talk, make comments about her life, not in a rude way, but in a way that was just him, almost teasing, daring her to ask questions so that he could become all cryptic and not give her real answers.

She had so many questions to ask him, so many answers she needed him to give her, and now alone on this plane would have been the best time as any to try and get them, but she knew he wouldn't give them to her, so she choose to stay silent. Only speak when spoken too, and give short answers when she actually did speak.

But Reddington was becoming very close to crossing a line. "Why don't you want to talk about your husband Lizzie?" He asked as he came to sit beside her once again. He had left awhile ago to go get a drink or talk to Dembe she presumed, but wasn't really sure. She hadn't really cared either. They were on a plane, not like he was going to escape, and she could really use a break from him.

But now he was back, talking, prodding again, acting like he knew her. "You know Lizzie, all the answers you seek about your husband, all the questions you're dying to ask, but won't, you can tell me about. I mean I am right here." He said it as if she didn't obviously know that.

"Because you would actually give me answers? Tell me everything right here, right now?" She quirked her eye brow. She said it all with a hint of sarcasm she knew he would detect.

He simply shrugged his soldiers in response.

She knew he was daring her. Daring her to ask. It was like a game of cat and mouse. Personally she wasn't interested in playing, but something in her made her speak out.

"Fine. Why me? Why the hell are you here? Turning yourself into the FBI, asking for me." She was letting it all out now, he had opened the flood gates and she knew she should close them, stop now, she would only be disappointed, but she couldn't stop. "How do you know me Reddington? How do you know every little detail about my life? Are you stalking me, got cameras in my house, my car maybe? Just.. why are you doing this to me?" Her last question was almost desperate, and she hated how it sounded, the weakness of it.

"Oh Lizzie, you see that's the problem. You see you seem to think I am here to ruin your life." She looked at him, but he continued to stare forward at the seat ahead. "But the truth is, all the things you've come to believe about your life, almost all of them are false." He paused."You think I am here to ruin your life," He stared right into your eyes. "but I am quite possibly the only person in this world that you can trust."

She stared at him, trying to read him. Her profiling skills never worked as well on Reddington he was a closed book to her, and she was a wide open one to him apparently. But something about him right now, the way he said that she could trust him, she almost believed it and she had no idea way.

She was about to reply, ask him why she should believe him. Ask him more questions, but Dembe choose that moment to interrupt. "Mr. Reddington, we are here." Reddington nodded as Dembe walked away.

"Well than," He stood up and stared down at Liz, grabbed his fedora and held his hand out. "Shall we."

Elizabeth stared at him. Just like that the moment was gone and she was left wondering if this game of cat and mouse would ever end with the answers she was looking for.

She let Reddinton help her up, but let go of his hand immediately after getting sturdy on her feet, she turned and grabbed her bag. She followed Reddington off the plane and squinted as the sun shined bright. She stopped at the top of the stairs of the plane and looked around at her surroundings.

Reddington smiled at her from beside the black car waiting for them. "Come now Lizzie, we have no time to waste, I have a wonderful little shop we need to get to. You'll need a dress my dear."

She wanted to knock the smirk off of his face, but instead descended the stairs, and walked up to Red, "Well than what are we waiting for, Daddy." She said it with sarcasm as she ducked into the car.

Reddington felt his heart stop a little and his face fell for a moment, but he quickly recovered. He knew she was just playing her little part in this undercover case and ment nothing by it. He was starting to regret this idea.

They had spent the afternoon shopping and sight seeing per Red's request. When Elizabeth asked why there were here so early if the meeting was not beginning until later that night Red simple answered with, "You need a vacation Lizzie. To get away from the craziness that I have apparently ensued on your life, get away from Cooper and, Ressler." He said with disdain, it was quite obvious he did not like Agent Ressler and had no problem showing it.

Elizabeth wanted to yell at him, tell him she could be doing much better things than wandering the streets of London with him, but she couldn't. She almost wanted to thank him for this little break. So instead she just nodded and stayed silent. Listening adamantly as Red explained the views of the city with Dembe and Luli wandering in front and behind, never to close, but enough for them to notice they were there.

Now she sat in her room of the suite Reddington had gotten them. She had to admit it was very beautiful, and he had let her have the master bedroom, even though she insisted one of the other rooms would have worked just as well for her.

She pulled out her phone, checking for any missed calls. Nothing.

She dialed the hospitals number and waited for the nurses station to pick up. "Mercy Medical Clinic, this is Riley, how my I assist you?" The pleasant voice filled the phone.

"Hi, Riley. This is Elizabeth Keen."

"Oh, hello Mrs. Keen. How are you?"

"I'm okay. I uh, couldn't make it in today, How is he? Any change?"

There was a pause. "I'm sorry Liz, no change yet." The woman said sadly.

Elizabeth exhaled. "Alright, thank you Riley."

With that she hung up and stared at her phone.

_Elizabeth ran around her small studio apartment trying to get ready. She hadn't been out on a date for over a year. She had just been to hung up with graduating high school, than moving from Nebraska to New York, and starting college. _

_And now it was 6:30 and Tom would be here soon and she still couldn't decide what to wear. _

_He had text her early in the afternoon to give her an idea on how fancy of a date this would be. He said something nice, but casual would be OK._

_She was interested more than ever when he had said this. Most men were all fancy restaraunt and flash my money around on a first date, especially when your'e in New Yorkas City._

_She had finally decided on wearing her hair down and just pinning the top half up while the rest hung down in loose curls. She did her make up lightly as usual. She was a neutral girl when it came to make up. Warm colors, light eyeliner and some mascara, sometimes a little blush. _

_She decided to wear a pair of her dark wash skinny jeans with a nice design on the pockets and some fading in all the right places. She picked out a nice flower blouse with light pinks and purples. It flowed freely around her and the v neck cut hung down the the middle of her breast showing off the dark tank top she was wearing underneath. She slipped on a pair of grey knee-high boots with a heel. She applied a light amount of lipstick and gloss and checked herself out in the mirror. She looked pretty good if she did say so herself._

_Just than the door bell rang and she felt her heart jump out of her walked to the door and pulled it open to find Tom clad in a pair of light wash jeans and a nice button down shirt. His hair was scruffy as it had been yesterday when she met him, and she was pleased to see he had decided not to shave the stubble on his cheeks, she thought it was cute and looked good on him. _

_He smiled and she blushed as his eyes racked over her body. _

_"You look beautiful, Liz." She said as he continued to stare at her in awe. _

_"You don't look to bad yourself, nice to see you without coffee all over you." She smirked. _

_He laughed and leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek as more of a formal greeting. "You ready to go?"_

_"Yeah, let me grab my jacket. Be right back." She walked down the hall and could feel his eyes on her the whole time. She returned with a leather jacket and a white scarf on and he smiled at her before putting his hand on her lower back as he followed her out of the apartment. She locked the door behind them and they walked silently to his car. He opened her door and they drove off. _

_They talked about random things on the drive to a little italian restraunt. He turned the car off and ran around to open her door. _

_As they walked inside she was impressed by the little place. She had told him yesterday during coffee that pasta was one of her favorite foods, any kind of pasta really. He had smiled and told her about this nice little place by his apartment that he often ordered from. _

_She presumed this was it and she was happy that he had decided to share it with her, and that he had clearly been interested in what she was saying._

_He pulled the chair out for her and tucked her in and she was continuously impressed with how much of a gentleman he was. They ordered wine and toasted to their meeting and to a wonderful start of a first official date. As they clinked glasses and sipped their wine they both were thinking of a toast to the next dates to come. _

_The night was beginning to wear down, they had ate dinner, and went for a walk through the park. _

_Tom was captivated by Lizzie. He hung on every word that she said. He loved her laugh, the sound of her voice drawled him in, he loved the spark in her eyes and the fire of determination when she talked about her future plans. And he found himself hoping he would be included in those plans. Somewhere during the walk their hands slipped together and swung lightly as they walked. _

_The night was coming to an end as they pulled up in front of her apartment and walked up to her door. She unlocked it and then turned to him. He had yet to kiss her, and she wondered if he would now. She was 20 years old, but he made her feel like she was 15 years old, like she'd never kissed a man before. _

_He looked at her, really looked at her and she swore he could see inside her soul. He smiled lightly and timidly took her hands in his. "Look Lizzie," There he was, saying her name like that so perfectly."I, I had an amazing time tonight. Not just tonight yesterday as well. You, you're amazing." She looked at him and smile and he smiled back. _

_"I..." He stopped her. _

_And leaned forward resting his forehead on hers. Her breathe hitched in her was it. _

_He wrapped his arms around her waist and hers found there way around his neck as his lips tenderly brushed against hers. _

_The world stopped, as her eyes fluttered shut and she leaned into him more, he lightly picked her up and then set her down again. They parted for a moment before coming back together more fiercely. He lightly pushed her up against the wall and one of his hands found his way up to her hair as there tongue slipped together. _

_They pulled apart breathlessly and rested there foreheads together. He looked into her eyes again._

_"Wow." He whispered._

_And she tried hard to suppress a giggle, but failed and he laughed along with her. _

_He left that night with a promise of coffee and breakfast tomorrow before class. She fell asleep with dreams of him playing in her head._

"Agent Keen?"

Elizabeth jumped at the sound of Reddington's voice.

"Where were you at?" He asked, obviously curious about the day dream she had been in.

She cleared the lump in her throat. "Uh, no where. What's up?"

He shook his head, amazed at how she always seemed to side step his questions. "Were leaving in an hour. You should get ready."

She looked at the clock."Of course."

He left and closed the door behind him.

She grabbed her things and begin to get ready for her night out as being Reddington's daughter, her husband and all their memories still at the forefront of her mind.

**Review lovelys :)**


	4. The Beginning Of The End

**You are all amazing! Thanks for the great reviews and all of the awesome support. **

**I am loving this story so much and having so much fun writing it. This chapter was a little harder to write, but in the end I am pretty pleased with it, so I hope you all enjoy it because I sure do!**

**Disclaimer:**_ The 3 John's own this amazing show, not me. Although I would have no problem doing so! _

They pulled up in front of a beautiful restaurant on a random side street a few blocks from their hotel.

Elizabeth watched as people walked in and out of the building in their fancy attire and she was instantly happy that she had listened to Red and let him buy her the luxurious dress she was now wearing. It was a pale blue, one shoulder, tight dress. It was very modest, but hugged her curves in all the right places. The shoulder was long sleeved and had a slit in the center of it, and the dress cut mid thigh. She loved it and was very grateful that Red had noticed it and picked it out for her.

It wasn't very often Elizabeth got to dress up. Her wardrobe consisted of her pant and skirt suits for work, and nice blouses, nothing to fancy. She didn't own many fancy clothes at all. She had a couple summer dresses in her closet at home, and one nice dress that she would wear to weddings and any other random formal event that happened to pop up.

Reddington was dressed in his usually suit, a white one for tonight's events. He choose a pale blue bow tie, no doubt to match her dress. She wondered if they would come across more as a couple than father and daughter. Raymond Red Reddington and Lillian Marie Reddington.

"Understand that this is going to be a quick meeting. You may assume that this man is not as dangerous as other Blacklister because I did not want any wires or clumsy FBI agents lurking in the bushes. But understand this, Vincent Gregerson is quite possibly one of the most dangerous men I have ever came into contact with I made sure there was no wires for a reason. Simply because he can not be fooled."

Liz looked at him curiously. If he was so dangerous than why would he bring her along and put her in this situation. "We get in, eat our dinner, he will find us, we do not find him. He will sit, we will get our information, and than we will leave. Nothing more, nothing less. I wont compromise your safety. So we do this may way. Got it." He looked at her pointedly.

She just stared at him and shook her head a little.

"Very well than, shall we." He got out as Dembe opened his door and she scooted over to exit as well. He put his hand on her lower back and ushered her in. The coat check met them by the door and greeted them politely. He took Red's fedora and Lizzie's jacket. Soon after they were walked to their table. It was a small circle table in the back of the little restaurant, no doubt they were place in the small corner per Reddington's request.

Liz smiled politely as the waiter pulled out her chair, she sat and they ordered their drinks. Wine for Lizzie and a scotch for Red.

"So, Liz... Lillian. How are you enjoying our trip?" Reddington said very casually, obviously getting right into their roles of father and daughter.

She cleared her throat, "Uhm, I love it here. London is a beautiful place. I've always wanted to visit." She said sincerely.

He smiled. "I know my dear."

She stared at him. In any other situation she would have pinned him with a question. "How do you know that?" But instead she just smiled and sipped her wine. Reddington's earlier words echoing back at her. _Vincent Gregerson is quite possibly the most dangerous man I've every came into contact with. _

She needed to play along. Keep her emotions in check know matter what Red said. They could be being watched at this very moment, and she needed to make sure that everything about their story would check out, which ment no slip ups.

They ordered their food. A salad for her and a pasta dish for him.

The rest of the evening went about wonderfully. Reddington asked questions about how school was going, she made up a story about nursing school and how much she was loving it. Lillian Marie Reddington was going to be a nurse, according to Red's file, and Liz was finding it hard to make up so many stories in the short amount of time, but forged through with a fake smile on her face.

They were just finishing up their meals and sitting drinking their second glasses of wine when short man strode up to them, taking a seat right beside Reddington.

"Vincent, how are you?" Red said politely.

"Raymond Reddington, long time no see."

"You know how it goes Vincent, FBI's most wanted, can't be to safe." Raymond laughed heartily.

"And who might this be?" Vincent asked nodding in Liz's direction.

"Oh Vincent, this is my beautiful daughter, Lillian. We are on a little mini vacation, not very often I get sometime with my little bug."

Vincent just smiled and nodded politely in her direction once more.

Lizzie sat back as the two men talked in a different language, she watched their facial expressions. Trying to get some type of leverage to what was being said. They seemed to act as if she was not their. At one point she had started to zone out of what they were speaking about, it all was foreign to her anyways. But they caught her attention when she could hear things beginning to become intense. Although she couldn't understand what was being said, she could tell both men were sizing each other up.

Red was staring menacingly towards Vincent, and Vincent in return was sitting straight up, obviously trying to show dominance. Liz light cleared her throat and both men turned towards her, she blushed, her cheeks firing up at their attention. Red flashed her a reassuring smile before they went back into their conversation.

They didn't seem quite as tense now and she wondered what had been said between the two men, before she could ponder on the thought more both men were on their feet shaking hands, Vincent left the diner and Reddington grabbed her hand pulling her up.

"Time to go Lizzie." He whispered urgently before roughly pushing her out of the crowded tables.

"What happened? What's going on Red?" She whispered just as frantically as he had.

He didn't answer, instead just continued pulling her out. He made a quick turn from the exit and Liz briefly saw to men pull their guns from their pockets and hide them by their legs as they began walking through the people in their direction.

Red pulled a fire alarm and Liz listened as it rang through the building and people began to get up and leave frantically. He rushed them through two swinging doors and through the kitchen. She heard shots fired and jumped slightly.

"It's going to be OK, Lizzie. Just keep moving." He whispered reassuringly.

She heard the shots get closer and so wished that Reddington had let her bring her gun that she had wanted to holster to her thigh. She felt defenseless right now. Running through some diner she didn't know with the FBI's most wanted, shots coming closer and closer, the fire alarm ringing in her ears.

Suddenly she was pushed to the floor as a man stepped out from the corner firing at them. Lizzie felt a pain shoot through her arm as she fell to the ground. She looked up as Reddington kicked the guy and punched him in the hand knocking it out of his hand, he then punched him square in the face, knocking him back into the wall. Liz quickly grabbed the gun with her pain free arm and hurriedly fired it at the man, hitting him in the chest.

Red turned swiftly to her. "Lizzie." He said in horror as he looked at the blood pooling by her side. He pulled the gun from her hand and pulled her up into his side.

She looked at her arm seeing the blood pooling, ruining the beautiful new dress she had just gotten.

"Run!" Red yelled and pulled her with him. They were swiveling through the kitchen, hallways, and finally down a flight of stairs. Red pushed them open, still keeping his hand on her arm pulling her with him. They were greeted by Dembe holding an open door from them to the black car.

Reddington quickly ushered her in to the vehicle and climbed in behind her. Dembe pushing the door closed and jumping into the driver seat and speeding off.

"What the hell just happened?" Elizabeth was now furious. What had they been talking about that had caused such a big scene in there.

Reddington ignored her question and began to cater to her bleeding arm.

"It is just a flesh wound. You'll be fine. Dembe will stitch you up on the jet."

The jet? They were leaving already, she hadn't even packed her bag when they left the hotel.

Reddington had taken off his tie and wrapped it around her wound pulling it tightly to apply pressure and Liz cried out in pain. Finally coming off the adrenalin high and realizing the extent of her injuries.

"That should hold of some of the bleeding until Dembe can get to it." He said reassuringly before turning to the front and staring up into the front seat.

Liz looked at him dumbstruck. What the hell was going on. First they were having a quite little dinner, talking like they'd been long lost friends, then they were running for their lives and being shot at. And now of all times he didn't want to talk.

She wanted to push him to talk to her, but right now all she could focus on was the immense pain gathering i her arm and taking over her senses.

Before she knew what was happening they had stopped in front of the jet and she was being pulled carefully from the car by Red. He guided her to the seats they had occupied 10 hours before and carefully sat her down. He handed her a glass of water and a couple bills.

She starred at him, but before she could ask, he answered. "Mild sedative. It will slightly knock you out, just enough to numb you and put you too sleep for a little while so Dembe can sew up that wound."

She nodded and took the pills chasing it with the water. She sat for a moment and quickly began to feel the side effects of the medicine kick in. Her head tilted as she began to succumb to sleep. Red's voice whispering, "You're going to be OK, Lizzie. I promise." was the last thing she heard.

Tom Keen had had a normal life. Grew up in small town Iowa. Two loving parents, grandparents. A rather large family was always surrounding him and making him feel loved.

He had been a quite child, never really coming out of his shell until the later years of high school. He never had any drastic changes happen in his life. He'd only ever lost one major person in his life and that was his great grandma when he was only 7. He had never gotten all that close to began with, because well he was very young, so even that loss wasn't a world altering one for him.

He had never had a real life altering moment in his life. He grew up wanting to be a teacher. So choosing a career was never a problem. His parents provided more than enough for him. He had decided in his freshman year he wanted to go to New York for college and that stuck with him until it finally happened.

He had never had a real life altering, stop you in your tracks, make you rethink your life plans, earth shattering moment in his life.

Well that was until he met Elizabeth Scott.

The minute she spilt her coffee on him, and looked into his eyes, she said yes to his first date, he kissed her, everything. She made his world stop. She was love at first sight for him, and she was his earth shattering moment.

_The next morning they met for breakfast as planned. They talked as if they'd known each other for years, not days or hours. What followed after that could be easily classified as a love story. They continued to go on dates 4 out of the 7 nights a week. Some times it would be out to dinner at a casual restaurant, other times a fancy restaurant. They would go to movies, lunch, breakfast, or dinner. Walks through the park, and even though their topics in school were completely different, they would have study dates where they would meet at a library or one of their apartments and turn on some music and work on their assignments. Helping with the little things they could with such different studies, but it didn't matter, the comfort of the other being their was enough. _

_It took them a month before they finally slept together. Not that either had really pushed for it, in fact neither had really worried much about it at all, figuring that it would happen when they both felt it should and there was no need to put a timeline on it. _

_It was a cold night and they had gone out for a light dinner and headed back to Tom's place to watch a movie. They sat on the couch wrapped in each others arms making out like teenagers. _

_They broke apart and stared into each others eyes. Nothing was said at all as their stare turned intense and their eyes darkened. Nothing needed to be said, they both knew the other so well already. There kisses grew even more passionate and loving. Their touches more gentle and soothing. Tom picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist and he led them to the bedroom, carefully placing her on the bed. _

_They consummated their relationship that night, a couple times actually. _

_Tom woke before and stayed there for a long while staring at the beautiful woman before him. He flashed back to their first meeting and all the time they'd spent together since. He felt like he'd known her for a lifetime, but it had only been a little over a month. _

_She stirred slightly and he watched as her eyes fluttered slightly and her nose burrowed in to his chest more, her legs wrapping around him a little tighter. He hadn't a clue what she was dreaming about, but a smile hadn't left her face the entire time, and he was really hoping it was because of him. _

_He was lost in his day dream watching her. His thoughts wandering back to last night. The feel of her beneath him. Gripping his shoulders, gasping, panting, and whimpering his name. _

_He'd held her all night long. Her warmth drawling him to sleep quickly. He couldn't get over how amazing she truly was._

_"I love you." He whispered it quietly and kissed her temple. It was the first time the words had left his mouth, but not even close to the first time they had popped into his head._

_"I love you." He heard her sleep filled voice whispering back. He jumped slightly startled and looked down to find her crystal blues staring right back at him. _

_"I didn't know you had woke up." He whispered before kissing her forehead. _

_She smiled at him and he saw the tears glistening in her eyes. He rolled on top of her, his naked body sliding up against hers. He entwined one of their hands and let the other rest on her cheek, caressing it gently. "I love you, Lizzie... I have since the first moment in the coffee shop. And each day spent with you I just fall deeper in love. You are, the best thing to have ever walk into my life, I'm so blessed to have you, Lizzie. I, I just love you so much babe." He kissed her passionately and wiped the few stray tears that fell down her cheeks as she listened to his little speech. _

_"I love you, Thomas Vincent Keen. Every since the beginning." She wanted to say more, but couldn't find the right words to express it to him. "You're my safe haven." She whispered. _

_From that point on he promised himself no matter what life through at them he would be there for her. Protecting her and keeping her safe. He wanted to forever be her safe haven, and never give her any reason to doubt it. _

_The rest of the morning was spent in bed. Making love and talking about everything and nothing._

Elizabeth finally came to, waking from her amazing dream, what she wasn't aware of was that hundreds of miles away her other half was dreaming of the exact same thing. She looked at her surroundings and realized they were still on the plane and that it was dark outside. If she was correct this meant they were getting close to D.C. She was so ready to be home.

She realized it had been a good 5 hours since she had checked her phone and jumped up, pain shooting down her arm, and grabbed her carry on digging her phone out. 6 missed calls. 3 voice mails.

She listened to the first voicemail as Harold Cooper's voice filled her ears. He stated that he was just checking in and wanted her to call him ASAP and brief him on what all was going on with the case.

The second voice that filled the phone was a very familiar one, her Aunt Rita's high pitched voice squealed on asking how she was doing, what her plans were for the holidays and so on. The voice mail eventually ended and she reminded herself to make sure to call back during Rita's work hours, so that she could catch her voice mail.

The next voice that filled the air stopped her in her tracks. "Mrs. Keen. This is Doctor Conley at Mercy Medical Clinic. I need you to call us as soon as possible. It's about your husband." Elizabeth felt her heart stop, she felt the blood drain from her face, she was sure she looked as though she was about to vomit. Her airway felt like it was blocked and no words or coherent thoughts were coming through. "Elizabeth, it is very urgent. Tom, he's, it's not looking very good Liz. We really need you here immediately." Liz felt the tears streaming down her cheeks. She couldn't lose him. Not yet, not ever.

The doctors surrounded Tom as his heart went into V fib. "Charge the paddles to 200!"

"Clear."

Nothing.

"Charge again!"

"Clear!"

Beep Beep Beep. Beeeeeeeep...

"We're losing him!"

**Dun dun dun... **

**Let me know what you think it going to happen! Will Lizzie lose Tom? Will she make it to him on time? What happened with the case that went so wrong?**

**Reviews make me update faster so keep them coming! :)**


	5. Where It All Begins

**Disclaimer:**_ I own nothing. Although I would not mind owning Agent Ressler. Mmm. ;)_

**So this chapter was a little harder for me to write. I'm not sure how I feel about the flashback. In a way it's kind of a filler chapter, but it also has some good information about the story. Next chapter will be very informative and answer some questions that you all have had! Hope you enjoy this! Remember to review, please!**

_Elizabeth Scott had never felt more alive in her entire life than when she was with Tom Keen. _

_She was 21 years old and her and Tom had been dating for a year and a half. In fact today was her 21st birthday._

_Her and Tom had moved in together 6 months ago. It had been an easy decision for them both. They knew they loved each other, and they had been together for a year. And the majority of those nights since they got together were spent at one of their apartments. _

_So when Tom made her dinner one night, pulling out all the stops. Wine, pasta, salad, dessert, and soft music. She had almost wanted to laugh at how nervous he was to ask her. When he asked she answered immediately with yes. The only question about it was whose apartment would they keep and whose major furniture would they use. _

_All this was settled quite quickly and they were living together within 3 weeks of the question. Tom's things had been moved into her apartment because it was bigger, and closer to most of the main things they needed, a store, college, post office, bank. It was just a better neighborhood for them. They kept most of their furniture and opted to get a storage unit for the rest. _

_They had adapted to living together quickly. Neither of them held any regrets and both expressed how much the loved having the others company around more. _

_They lived together for 6 months, and today was Lizzie's 21st birthday. It was also the day when Tom realized just how far he would go to keep his promise of being Liz's safe haven, as she had called him all those months ago. _

_Elizabeth rolled over to an empty bed and frowned. It wasn't very often he was out of bed before her. He usually woke before her, but most times would stay in bed holding her till she awoke. _

_She wasn't alone for long though as she heard the bedroom door being pushed open. She turned to see Tom walking in with a tray of food. He smiled at her. "Good morning my beautiful birthday girl."_

_"Good morning to you too handsome." She kissed his lips as he set the try to the side. "What's all this?" She questioned._

_She looked at the tray more closely now. Biscuits and gravy (her favorite), eggs, and pancakes were piled on the plate. On the side there was a glass of orange juice and warm coffee, with a small bowl of fruit. She smiled as she looked to the lily that was laid on the the try and the note that was tied around the end of the stem. _

_**Happy 21st Birthday Lizzie. I love you baby.**_

_She was truly blessed with such an amazing man. She gave him another kiss and her smirked at her with a feeling of accomplishment. He put the tray on her lap as she sat up in bed and dove right into the eggs then took a sip of the warm coffee. _

_Tom got up and kissed her forehead before going to shower and get ready for the plans he had for the rest of their day. _

_The morning went on and Tom had snug out, telling Liz he had some errands to run. She was still in the bathroom getting ready and he told her that their was something on the table for her and that he would be back by 4 to pick her up for their dinner date. _

_Liz was pleased when she walked out of the bathroom 30 minutes later completely ready for the day and saw a note written from Tom. It had 4 addresses on it and times. At the end it said have fun today honey, I love you._

_First Tom had set up a 10:00am appointment for Liz to get her nails done, a massage, and a facial. Something she'd been complaining about needing to set up for 3 months now. She smiled and sent him a thank you text message. _

_She was finished two hours later and feeling completely refreshed. The next address was a small boutique down town. They had beautiful dresses and classy, but casual clothes of all varieties. As she walked in a worker walked up to her and handed her a note. _

_**Find something beautiful to wear tonight, on me Lizzie. Don't worry about the cost**__._

_Elizabeth smiled to herself and sent Tom a second thank you, this time adding a, you better believe you are getting very, very lucky tonight. _

_His reply was simple, but made butterflies rise in her stomach. "I already am lucky Liz, I have you."_

_She spent the time finding an outfit and then made her way to the next address. She was couple minutes early than what the time on the note said, but didn't figure that would be a problem. She walked in and stopped in her tracks. It couldn't be. _

_She wasn't suppose to be seeing him until thanksgiving and it was only July. But Tom was really pulling out all the stops._

_There stood her father, Sam Scott. _

_She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him, feeling tears gather in her eyes as he whispered her nickname._

_"Hi Butterball."_

_"What are you doing here?" She squealed while still clutching on to him. _

_"Tom called me and asked me if I was busy this afternoon, when he told me he had a round trip ticket to come see my daughter for her birthday, was there really any question on what to do?" _

_Liz smiled and the two proceeded to talk and eat their lunch. They had sat their for two hours talking and eating. They talked about school and how Liz was doing. Sam always side stepping the question when Liz asked how he was, she knew something was up, but figured she hadn't seen her father for almost 5 months, now was not the times to press things, but instead enjoy their time together._

_"So when should I be expecting my invitation?" Sam randomly asked._

_Liz looked at him questionably. _

_"To your wedding."_

_"Daddy.." Liz whispered._

_"Oh come on Butterball. It is only a matter of time before you two are married. I've personally gave it 6 months before I am getting a call that you two are engaged." Sam said it with such finality that Liz chuckled. _

_"Daddy, we've been together for a year and a half, we just moved in together 6 months ago. That really isn't very long you know.."_

_"Oh Lizzie don't try and act like what you two have isn't something very special. I've seen the way the two of you look at each other. The boy flew me out here for you for Gods sake."_

_She smiled at this. It's not like it is the first time that the thought of marrying Tom had been brought to her attention. She did love him, unconditionally, they had basically started a life together after all. _

_"I know Daddy."_

_"Just promise me something, Butterball." She nodded at him. "You stay as happy as you have been the past almost two years. I've never seen you so lively, Wiley and just happy. Whether that's with or without Tom, but I'm sure we both know he equals in to the reason for your newfound happiness. Just take care of yourself."_

_"Of course, Daddy." She wanted to ask him questions. Why was he talking like this was their last interaction. Telling her to be happy. Asking about a wedding. Telling her to take care of herself. _

_"Well should we head out? I only had a few hours to be here. I have a plane to catch dear." Sam said regrettably. _

_"OK." She said sadly but got up and led him to a waiting cabby. She hugged him tightly and they said their goodbyes. _

_Liz wiped at a stray tear. Saying goodbye to her Dad every time she seen him never got easier. _

_She collected herself and headed to her final address. It was and upscale salon. Liz got her hair done in a beautiful up-due with some tendrils still hanging freely by her face. _

_She went back to the empty apartment, but could tell Tom had already been there and gone again, and wondered where he had went. She pulled out her phone and saw she had a message from him. _

_**Sorry babe, I had to run out for a little while. I have someone coming to pick you up at 6 and take you to the place. I will meet you there. I hope you had a good day, I can't wait to see you tonight. I love you.**_

_She smiled, but was slightly disappointed in not getting to see him more today, she knew that was kind of selfish since he had done so many amazing things for her today._

_She sent him back a quick message and then proceeded to get ready._

_When 6 o'clock rolled around she walked out side to find a nice black car waiting for her with a driver holding the door open. They drove through town and before they parked he handed her a blindfold and told her he was given orders to make sure she put this on and could not see._

_She looked at him but decided to comply. _

_Soon she was being walked into a building and escorted to a seat. She felt hands gently grab hers and instantly could tell they belonged to her Tom. He kissed her forehead and whispered happy birthday. He pulled down her blindfold and stepped out of the way as all of their friends popped up from behind the bar and yelled SURPRISE! _

_The night went about and Lizzie had drunk more than she probably should have. Considering it was her 21st birthday she really didn't care. _

_She sat at the bar alone, as Tom had just left to use the restroom. A man sauntered up to her and took a seat far to close if you asked her. _

_He leaned into her, "Hi baby, how are you tonight?"_

_"Taken." She said sharply, not even glancing in his direction._

_"Well I don't see anyone around you now." He said cleverly, he looked at the pin that her friends had insisted she put on. It read birthday girl and had 21 in big font on it. "I see it must be someones birthday." He said as he reached forward to touch the pin that was on her breast. _

_She pushed his hand away gruffly, almost knocking him off his chair. _

_"You bitch." The man said as he grabbed her arm gruffly. _

_She cried out in pain as he squeezed her arm tight. _

_"I suggest you let her go."The man turned to be met by death glares from Tom Keen."Now." He said as the guy stared at him._

_"What are you gonna do about it?" He sneered._

_His eyes turned red as the man squeezed harder to get his point across. Tom didn't think, all he saw was his Lizzie crying out in pain. Tom punched the guy in nose, blood gushing from it immediately. _

_He fell to the floor and spit blood from his mouth. Liz backed away, suddenly scared of what was about to ensue. _

_"That all you got pretty boy?" He sneered some more. Tom pulled him up by his shirt and pushed him up against the wall punching him in the mouth and then stomach._

_"I don't know what makes you think you can lay a hand on any woman in that way, but you better think differently next time." Tom threatened. "You better hope I never see you again, any where near my girlfriend, or you'll be a dead man." Tom punched the man once more making him fall to the ground. _

_He grabbed his jacket and pulled Lizzie into his side kissing her forehead before leading her out of the bar and into a cab. Once inside he hugged her close to him. "Are you okay, baby?" _

_She was visibly shaken up and Tom wished he had never left her side. _

_"Yeah." She whispered. _

_Tom held her the whole way home. Furious that this guy had ruined their night. He walked her up stairs to their apartment and they got ready for bed. They laid down and Liz crawled into his arms. _

_"Thank you." She whispered. _

_"For what." He questioned._

_"For everything, for all you did today. I can't say thank you enough for today Tom. And for tonight." She snuggled into his chest. " Thank you for being my safe haven."_

"Liz.." Red stopped as he saw Liz a mess of tears her phone slipping from her hands and crashing to the floor of the plane as she sobbed.

He sat down beside her, "Lizzie what is wrong?" He asked concerned.

She sobbed. "Tom... I, I, I need. He needs... Me." She hiccupped as more sobs racked her body.

"Lizzie you need to calm down, breathe. Tell me whats happening."

"I need to get to the hospital. Now." She said. "Tom, that was the hospital. They left me a message. I, how close are we?" She questioned, finally gaining some control over her emotions.

"5 minutes from landing."

"Thank God." She breathed.

She was in out of the plane the minute the stairs were pushed up to the doors. "You can take my car Agent Keen. Dembe will drive you where ever you need to go." Reddington said.

She nodded in gratitude and practically ran to the car as Dembe opened the door. Her bags forgotten be hind, they were the least of her worries.

She didn't turn back to look at Red, she would thank him later, she knew he would understand. Dembe drove her to the hospital and she ran through the emergency doors. Running as fast as her feet would take her to her husbands room.

" !" She heard a nurse call her name, but she ignored it running straight for his door.

She stopped in her tracks as she looked at the bed.

Tom turned his head in her direction and offered a weak smile.

"Hi Lizzie."

Lizzie's world stopped. This couldn't be.

Tears sprung from her eyes like a water fall. "Tom." She whimpered.

She quickly moved to the side of his bed falling on to it and sinking in to him as he hugged her to him tightly.

She felt like a part of her world snapped back into focus. A little voice in her head was telling her that it was over, things would go back to normal, she had her Tom back. But a bigger part of her was saying...

This is only the beginning.

**It really is only the beginning, so keep reading and reviewing, it appreciated greatly! :)**


	6. Here With Me

**This update is a little later than I hoped, but I really tried hard to keep any mistakes out. I do not have a Beta at this time, but if anyone is interested let me know! I'm excited for this chapter, and really enjoyed how it turned out. This story has had over 2,000 views and it makes me super happy, so props to you all :) Getting some awesome reviews would be a wonderful Christmas present, so in case you're feeling generous, there is an idea ;)**

**The song in italics is Here With Me by: Susie Suh, It is the song that plays at the end of the Wujing episode and I am in love with it. If you haven't already checked it out, you should. **

**I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as me, thanks for reading :)**

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own any part of The Blacklist, it is the best show on television, but was unfortunately not made by me. I do not own any of the amazing male or females that work on it. Although as a side note, have any of you seen Megan Boone and Diego Klattenhoff in interviews together... They total are a thing. They have to be, they make me want to ship Keenssler because they are so adorable in real life._

**But any who...**

_Caught in a riptide, I was searching for the truth, there was a reason, I collided into you..._

"Be careful." She reprimanded to Tom as he tried to take the stairs leading up to their house to fast. "You know I really don't think your doctor will be to impressed when I am dragging you back in there after just leaving." She quipped.

He snorted with laughter. "I'm fine, Mother." He dead panned, earning him a glare. "Liz, I am OK. I promise." He replied softer this time.

She looked at him and nodded mutely as they finished going up the stairs, his arm wrapped around her shoulder as he braced himself on the ledge of the stairs.

"I feel like I'm crushing you." He said.

"Please, I've taken out men much bigger than you." She said easily as she helped him take the last stair.

He stopped and looked at her raising an eyebrow.

"Really?" He questioned her, slightly shocked.

"Yes." She laughed. She opened the door and they made their way inside their home laughing together at their clumsiness of making it through the doorway.

They rounded the corner and both stopped in their tracks as they stood in the door way to the dinning room.

"God, Tom, I'm sorry I should have had this taken care of before you..." She started apologizing immediately as they both spotted the blood stain and disheveled appearance of the room where there worst nightmare came true.

"It's OK, babe." He stopped her, but he kept looking at his dried blood on the floor and back to her. "You didn't get home much in the two weeks, did you?" He questioned quietly.

She bowed her head. "Uh, no, I guess not. I spent most of my time with you, when I could at least, otherwise I was at work. I really only came home to shower and change. Straight up the stairs, straight out the door." She admitted.

Walking through the rest of her house was just not necessary, and not something she wanted to deal with. Seeing Tom lay in the hospital bed for two weeks was enough, she didn't need the reminders when she came home as well. For the first few days she just avoided the room completely and eventually it became a habit, she never even thought about going that way when she would get home from the hospital to get ready for work. She was on autopilot most days. She would grab her things, shower upstairs and get ready up there and head right to work afterwards.

When Tom woke up 3 days ago she spent ever waking minute with him, only putting in 6-8 hour shifts instead of her usual 10-12, or sometimes more. Copper had understood and told her she deserved some time with her husband. This was much to Red's dismay though. He wasn't very impressed the first day Liz told him, after he called one day when she had already gotten off work and was at the hospital with Tom, that she was not on duty now, and unless this was an emergency she really couldn't come in.

Her and Red hadn't talked much on a personal level since Tom woke up, he was mad at her, and she could tell, but she had been so consumed with Tom, and making sure he was OK, healing properly, and getting ready to come home. She in no way forgot about her job, or Reddington, but Copper told her, she could have the next week off. She had declined, saying she would just cut her hours the next week until things calmed down, and Copper had readily agreed.

Now when she talked to Red he was more formal, he addressed her as Agent Keen, and had yet to let Lizzie slip the past four days, he also only talked to her about manners the had to do with the Blacklist. She wondered if this was because of Tom's recovery, or because of their near death experience on their undercover mission.

Her arm was still wrapped and not completely healed, holding up her gun was kind of a pain, and Copper and the doctor hadn't released her to work in the field yet, stating that she needed to heal, physically, and emotionally from the past few days events. She had only nodded mutely and accepted defeat, she was exhausted after all. Her life had been hectic since Raymond Reddington had turned himself in and she would readily except a break at this point.

Her thoughts were knocked back to the present time when her husband cleared his throat.

"We could just pull it up and replace it, I mean it wouldn't cost much to get someone in here to take care of it." He reasoned, trying to take care of the problem at hand and lighten the mood.

She smiled at him, "Yeah, I'll call someone here soon." He nodded as he turned to the kitchen on his crutches that she had handed to him once they got into the house completely.

She followed him into the kitchen and watched as he placed himself on a bar stool at the counter. She sat down in front of him and he grabbed her hands. She looked up at him and could tell he was mulling over something, trying to decide if he should say what was on his mind or not.

"Lizzie..." Apparently he had decided to talk, "I, what happened those two weeks I was out?" He questioned.

And she was left wondering what all he wanted to know, their wasn't very much she could even tell him. Everything about her life was classified now, everything about work was classified. She hated her secrets she had from him, but she knew he would understand if she would just tell him this, he had always been great with understanding her work, but she wondered if it would be different now that he had been invited into her crazy world. She thought about telling him nothing, lying and saying she had been fine the whole time, that she didn't cry more than she could ever imagine doing before in her life, that she didn't wish every day that it was her instead of him, that she hadn't stopped eating a long time ago because she was always just to stressed and worried sick, she thought about telling him that number 4 on the most wanted list swooped into her life and has been reeking havoc on it since he came, she thought about telling him everything. She wanted to tell him everything.

"What do you mean?" She questioned instead, deciding it was a neutral question. Something that would keep the both of them out of trouble.

"I mean, why is there a gunshot wound in your arm? Why do you look like you haven't slept in the past 2 weeks? Why was there a psycho path in our house? Why, why do you look like you haven't eaten a thing since this all happened?" He questioned desperately.

Apparently he wasn't going to hold back like she had decided too, she couldn't blame him though.

He had tried asking her these things in the hospital, but she side stepped it all, and he had decided to let it go until they got home. He didn't mean for it all to come out 5 minutes after they entered their home, but he couldn't help himself. Ever since he woke up he'd been worried sick about her. She kept telling him to focus on himself and his recovery, but he wondered who would take care of her if he was doing that.

"Tom..." She said pleadingly, she really didn't want to do this right now.

"I know Liz, I know everything it classified, and your fine and I need to focus on myself. But I am not dying in a hospital bed anymore. I'm home, I will be fine. You are acting like I am the only one this happened to, and I love you for that, but you need to take care of yourself too. Some guy came into our home and tried gutting me. You were here, he pointed a gun at your head, you..." He stopped for a moment, the thought of his wife sitting in front of him in tears with a gun pointed at her head, but yet she was still begging for his life, telling him it would all be OK. He wondered how she got to be so selfless with him, how she could stay so calm for him, and just focus in on him when the world had been coming down around them.

He cleared his throat and continued. "...you spent every minute you weren't working your butt off with me in a hospital in silence, it's time to talk Liz. I'm not going to sit here and let you kill yourself with all this bottled up. So let me in, talk to me, about what you can at least. And eat something for God's sake, I could feel your bones when we were walking in and I've been able to tell you've lost weight since I woke up. Liz I need you, I need you healthy and taking care of yourself. You may be able to fool a lot of people, but I am not one of them. So please, take care of yourself, and let me help you when I can." Tom squeezed her hand tenderly and she felt herself relaxing.

She felt tears sting the back of her eyes. It had been to long since she had someone that cared so much about her tell her to quit the bull shit and make her deal with life. She needed Tom just as much as he needed her. And she was thankful that he was such an amazing man, despite of his own obvious injury's, he just needed to look at her and see everything that was wrong without any explanation.

She loved that about him.

She got up from the table without saying anything. She walked over and started a pot of coffee and then grabbed the proper ingredients to make spaghetti and took out a pan, filled it with water and put it on the stove to start to boil. Tom watched her every move intrigued. She still had yet to say a thing to him, and he wondered if his little speech had helped or done more harm than good.

She walked over to the fridge and grabbed the creamer, then turned to the cupboard to get two coffee mugs. She board them both a cup and put the necessities in their rightful cups. She put the noodles in the water as it began to boil and put the sauce in a separate pan with a lid to simmer. She grabbed both cup, setting Tom's in front of him and took a generous drink of her own before sitting down. She grabbed his hand and gave him a soft smile.

The rest of their night was spent eating a full meal, talking, laughing, and just becoming Tom and Elizabeth Keen again. They were finally getting their lives back, and they were both very happy about that.

The next morning Liz readied herself for work while Tom slowly made his way downstairs to start the coffee pot.

When Liz made her way down stairs she gave him a kiss and followed his eyes to the still disheveled dining room.

"Some guys will be here around noon to take care of it all." She whispered.

He nodded and looked at her. "OK. You should get to work, I'll be fine."

She hesitated, but gave him a kiss and grabbed her things anyways. "I love you, call me if you need anything, at all." She pecked his cheek before heading out the door.

"I love you too." He hollered back at her.

Liz turned and winked before pulling the door closed behind her and making her way to her car, as Tom made his way back up stairs to ready himself for the day.

"Agent Keen, how lovely of you to join us today, I thought you'd never show." Red smirked to her as he sat in her office chair, leaning back with his ankles up and crossed on her desk.

How the hell did he get in here, she thought.

"Reddington. What are you doing in here? This is my office." She said as she pushed his feet off her desk to make room to set her stuff down.

"We have work to do." He said simply.

"So you had to break into my office, before I got here to tell me this?" She questioned with a smirk.

He stood and walked to the other side of the desk as she sat to occupy the chair he'd just left. She turned to her computer and started it up.

"Maybe I just wanted to come see you." He stated. "How is the arm?"

She stared at him, slightly shocked. It was the first non work related talk they'd had in the past couple days, and she had just realized how much she had missed it.

"It's alright." She answered. "Kind of gross actually." She snorted.

He laughed a hearty laugh and smiled at her. "Well, we will just have to be more careful next time."

Next time? There was going to be a next time of secret undercover work in London with people trying to kill them? Oh boy, she could hardly wait.

"Next time?" She questioned.

"Yes next time. We have our next target on the Blacklist Lizzie. Get your things, we have a meeting in the war room in 5 minutes." He stated before grabbing his coat off the back of the door and leaving the room.

She stayed for a moment thinking about Red's quick change in demeanor from the last encounter they had two days ago. He had been more cold, and distant. She was left to wonder what had switched. Maybe he just needed a little break from her, like she had needed a little break from work all together. Maybe the break had done them both good.

She gathered her things for the meeting and grabbed a fresh cup of coffee as she made her way to the war room.

She walked in to the room that was already filling with chatter as everyone needed shuffled in.

Cooper was with Aram and Meera looking over a computer intently. She set her things down by a table and watched as Reddington walked around taking lead of the meeting before it even started.

Ressler leaned up against a table beside her and looked at her straight on.

"Keen, how's the arm?" He asked in his tough FBI voice.

"It's still attached so I guess that's a plus side." She quipped.

He tried hard not to smirk, but it found its way to his lips anyways. Some how she was the only person that could crack his tough shell, and he really had know idea why, but he wasn't sure whether he liked it or not.

"Do you think your ready for the field yet?" He asked more quietly.

"I, uh, I'm sure I could handle it." She said, although she wasn't really sure. She had yet to be formally released by Cooper, and he arm was not completely healed, but she didn't want to seem weak in front of her tough colleague.

He just nodded at her. "Alright then." He was was back to his tough demeanor, the soft eyes that asked her if she was ready, were gone, and she was left to wonder if they were even there to began with, or if it was just a pigment of her imagination.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Cooper got started debriefing the situation. Something about a CIA agent that was killed in China. Red butting in about a man named Wujing, number 84 on the Blacklist. Liz listened intently as Red talked about the situation and problem at hand, throwing in her thoughts and him smiling appreciative to her when she would take his side and listen to what he would say. He started talking about a meeting with Wujing and her being with him.

She threw out her hesitance to doing this, as she knew nothing about coding, and that she was not released to be in the field yet. Cooper quickly interjected telling her that if she was feeling up to it, he would release her. She looked at him and inwardly cursed. Red was staring at her, waiting for her reply.

"I don't think I am prepared to do this." She said honestly.

"Reddington insists on you, Agent Keen." Ressler said with a hint of jealousy.

She turned to look at him and glared than turned back to Cooper and Reddington. "You are asking me to spy on a notorious spy killer, while pretending to be an expert in cryptography, which I know nothing about."

"I understand you have reservation's Agent Keen." Said AD Cooper.

"Reservations?" She questioned. The last time she went undercover with Red she was shot, and her husband almost died in the hospital while she wasn't around. And Harold Cooper thought he understood her reservations. He had know idea.

"The doctor hasn't even released her yet, she shouldn't be out in the field, undercover or not." Ressler finally butt in. "Let me go, I can do it." He said.

Liz wasn't sure whether to be thankful or not for his interjection.

"Not possible." Said Reddington.

"Look I know you have the deal to only speak with Keen, but a mans life is at stake, Agent Keen isn't ready and I am. So let me go." Donald said while sending Red an icy glare. He was tired of being pushed to the side when it came to working with Red. He wanted to prove himself.

"Like I said Donald. It's not possible."

"Why the hell not?" Donald's temper was beginning to flare.

"Because her cover has already been sent to the Chinese. If I show up with you they are going to be less than impressed and know that something is up. It has to be you, Agent Keen."

Donald huffed a sigh and accepted defeat. Liz looked from Ressler to Cooper, to Reddington hoping one of them would give her an answer.

When she found none she nodded mutely and walked out of the room.

An hour later she was in her office preparing herself when Reddington walked in and closed the door behind him.

She looked up at him and then back down to the file in front of her. He stood in silence for awhile.

"Can I help you?" She questioned finally. Causing him to smirk at the how open she was to show her anger to him.

"Sorry to put a damper on your otherwise boring day, Lizzie. But there is work to be done. We need to discuss the plan." He said as he sat across from her and crossed his legs.

"The plan? Didn't we already discuss that in the war room." She said as he finally looked up at him.

"You don't trust me."He said and she just started, not objecting at all. "In order for us to do our jobs today, you need to." He simply said, as if it was that easy.

"And why should I?" She questioned.

He simply shrugged. "I've kept you alive thus far haven't I?"

She went to make a smart comment back about how he was the reason a psycho path came into her house, and why she was shot, but it wouldn't have mattered. He may have caused bad things to happen, but he never once left her. He took care of her when she was shot, and tried to take care of her while her husband was in the hospital, even when she pushed it away.

She just slightly nodded, barely even moving her head, but apparently it was enough for him.

"Very well than."

"Wait." She said as he got ready to walk out the door.

He turned and looked at her. "You've gotten me into this mess. What's in it for me?" She questioned.

He smirked and closed the door. "Look at you camel trading like a Bedouin."

"If I'm stuck helping you, I want something in return."

"Such as?"

"The truth. Just once. I want to know why you choose me." She stared waiting for an answer from him.

He faltered for a minute. But smiled, nodded his head, then opened the door. "I'll see you at 2 Ms. Givins." He smirked at her before leaving her office.

The meeting went well until they tried to leave. Red killed one of Wujing's people after he almost blew their cover. She couldn't believe she had almost been killed once again on an undercover mission with him. She was thankful that he had saved both of their lives, but disappointed that he couldn't think of any other way than to kill the man.

They sat in the car in front of Red's hotel and they had yet to speak since the car stopped.

"Luli will stay with me, Dembe will take you wherever you need to go." He stated as he grabbed his coat.

Liz shook her head. "You didn't have to kill him." She said as they made eye contact.

"I believe I will always do whatever I feel I have to do to keep you alive." He simply stated as he made eye contact with her once more.

He nodded at her as she stared at him in silence, he turned and opened her door and she reached across him and pulled it close.

"I held up my end of the deal, now it's your turn. You owe me an answer."

He smirked. Always thrilled to see her tough side. His mouth twitched. "What's the question?"

She slightly sighed, he obviously already knew, but was just buying himself time. "Why me?"

His face slightly stiffened as he thought of his answer and what would be best to say at this point in time. "Because of your father." He answered truthfully.

She paused, not exactly what she was looking for. "What does that mean?" She pushed. "Did you know my father?" A thought came to her as she watched the corner of his mouth twitch up. "Have the two of you met somehow?"

He turned his head to face the front, not able make eye contact with her anymore. "I wish the answer was as simple as the question seems."

She sighed and rolled her eyes as she sang back into her seat. Always giving a little, but never enough to please her.

"But the truth is, the question isn't simple either." She licked her lips and he could tell how frustrated she was getting with him. He looked down. "I share your frustration." He said sincerely.

She just shook her head. "You act like we are the same. You're wrong. I have a life. People who care about me. But you..." She paused. "This is all you have."

It was a low blow, she knew it as she saw his face falter then quickly recover as he stared at her for a moment. "I have you."

_Calling your name in the midnight hours, reaching for you through the endless dream, so many miles between us now, but you are always here with me..._

It was her turn to recoil at his words. She stared at him trying to read him. His words sent shivers down her spine and she wondered why he said that. Why he thought he had her. She didn't stay to question. She looked at him and turned to get out of the car, turning to look back once more before closing the door on him. She walked away from the vehicle and realized just how far she was from the black site. She sighed and pulled out her phone as she continued to walk. She needed to put some distance between her and Reddington.

She called the only number that made sense to at the time.

"Agent Keen,where are you?" Ressler's steal voice cut through the ringing.

"I'm fine. Reddington, it's not important. Can you send someone to pick me up?" She questioned. She just wanted to go home.

"I'll be there in a minute. Stay were you are." He said and hung up the phone.

She starred at it for a moment before hanging up. The hotel they had been parked in front of was now out of sight and she was glad for the space away from Red. Every time they were together he said something that had her thinking. Needing answers to the questions she had hidden away her whole life. She felt like he was teasing her, it was a cruel game of cat and mouse.

Ressler pulled up in front of her and reached across to push the door open. She got in quietly and he took off in silence.

They were half way back to the post office when he finally spoke.

"What happened?" He questioned. But it didn't seem like an interrogation as she had expected him to do. It was more out of genuine concern.

She hesitated for awhile and he didn't push. She opened her mouth to speak just as both their phones began to ring. He flipped his open and she could hear Cooper talking, asking him where he was and if he had her.

She flipped hers open and sighed as she heard Tom's voice enter the line.

"Lizzie, where are you? I thought you'd be home by now." He said.

She sighed, "I know, something came up, I will be home soon. I promise." She whispered trying to get a little privacy.

"OK, take your time, I'm not going anywhere." He laughed.

She smiled, though she knew he couldn't see it. "OK."

"I love you, be safe."

""I love you too." She said and hung up the phone.

Ressler looked at her as she said the words and felt a voice in his head saying that should be him she's saying that too. He shook his head. Wondering where that thought had come from, he really must have hit his head harder on that glass than what he thought he played off.

They pulled up to the black site and his question was forgotten. They had a debriefing meeting and Liz's arm was throbbing. She had yet to take any medicine today in fear that she would be drowsy or not herself on this undercover case. The debriefing was fairly short and she was surprised when Meera and Ressler were talking about their fight to get to Henry Cho. She hadn't noticed Ressler's injuries when they were in the car, and felt bad for not saying anything then.

They walked out of the war room and she looked at him as he walked beside her.

"You okay?" She asked as she looked over his head again.

"I'll live."

"Look I just wanted to say, uh..." He looked around and they stepped into her office. He itched his nose and looked around again, trying to get some confidence for his next words. "Maybe I've had some doubts about you."

She looked away, it had been obvious he had, but she was slightly offended to actually hear the words leave his mouth.

"Maybe I haven't always been the best at keeping them to myself, but," She looked at him."What you did today was good work, I know you had your reservations, about going back into the field, and well, Reddington. But you did good Keen."

"Thanks." She said, she was thankful for what he was doing, but she really wanted to go home, and wasn't really sure how much she agreed with what he said. What had she done today, other than get an innocent man killed?

The made eye contact and he could tell she was bothered by something that happened today, something that she wasn't letting on. "If you hadn't gotten that message out when you did Henry Cho wouldn't be alive." He reassured her. She nodded her head and walked to her desk.

He looked down. "Whatever else happened in there." She paused and turned to look at him. She could tell he was trying to make her feel better, and she wondered why because he had never talked to her in this way before. "You should feel good about that." She felt like he'd just kicked her in the gut. How could she feel good about getting a man killed.

"Have a good night Keen." With that he walked out and she watched him as he moved by her window.

She packed up her things and went home. She felt relief wash over her as she entered her home. The first time she'd felt like that in over two weeks. She smiled when she heard soft music coming from the kitchen and walked that way. She paused in the door way and looked at the dining room where everything had been picked up and new carpet had been laid. She was happy Tom had made sure it was all picked up before she got home, and she figured that was her friend Ellie's doings. Along with the roast that she could smell coming from the kitchen.

She jumped when she felt two arms wrap around her waist. But relaxed quickly when she felt it was Tom.

"Hi." She breathed out as he nuzzled her neck.

She giggled at his action and felt a smile rise to his lips. "It looks good in here, huh?" He questioned, referring to the now clean dining room.

She turned and smiled as she saw him with his weight on his good leg and the crutches tucked under his arms. She wrapped her arms around him. "It looks great."

They ate supper and made their way up to bed. Liz fell asleep in her husbands arms. The struggles of the day melted away. And she finally was starting to feel at home again.

_You are always here with me..._

**So to answer a few questions, the box has yet to be discovered, so at this point the only speculations that Tom is a bad guy were made by Red directly to Liz, and with no proof behind it she obviously does not believe him. I'm really enjoying writing this story and it still has a long way to go, so I hope you are all on board with me. We are entering the second part of this story. Right now I have it mapped out into 3 parts, possibly 4. I'm really excited to see how you felt about this one. Now that Tom is at home I will be exploring more into Liz's work life and her work relationships, but also keeping Tom in the mix as well. This was a lot of Tom/Liz fluff and went mostly with the Wujing story line from the show, but with some twists. I hope you all enjoyed and I will be updating soon!**

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